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Re: Should I use an exception here?

This is dependent upon what you are doing, and how you want to implement it. An exception defines an error during the program flow - if you believe not finding a solution to be an error - for example the input array is faulty - than throw an exception. Otherwise, an alternative solution could be to return some defined value (such as null) which must be checked by callers, and if the return value is identical to the defined value nothing was found. What Is an Exception? (The Java™ Tutorials > Essential Classes > Exceptions)